Volume 4, Chapter 17 ~ The Advantage Is Mine!

Where was Kettle? I left such a big kettle here, where the hell did he go??

Upon seeing the match result, the members of Twilight Ashfire—who had been so relaxed they were about to start playing Gwent in the spectator stands—lost all of their previous composure. They could see the same confusion and shock mirrored in each other’s eyes.

Kettle’s strength, as teammates who had fought alongside him for years, they knew better than anyone.

During the Demon Race Trial, he had served as the vanguard, going head-to-head in close combat against a brawny and seasoned green Beastman warrior. With each strike of his blade, he had left his opponent paralyzed and immobilized. His attacks, fierce as a raging storm, rendered the thick-skinned Beastman utterly helpless, eventually chopping him to death right then and there.

Was Felicia somehow stronger than that green Beastman?? She just stood there letting Kettle slash at her for several minutes, and didn’t suffer a single injury??

The members of Twilight Ashfire watched, wide-eyed, as Felicia—with her proud chest thrust forward—walked down from the stage. They tried to discern some flaw in her gait, but found none. She left the field exactly as she had arrived—no changes whatsoever. Not a single tremble from the spots on her body that had taken hundreds of strikes. Only the water pouches on her chest bounced slightly with her steps...

The knight girl’s twin amber ponytails swayed in the wind. Under countless gazes—varied and colorful—she returned to the spectator stands and calmly took her seat, as if what had just occurred was no more than a run-of-the-mill event.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd, calling out Felicia’s name.

The haze hanging over the freshmen was instantly cleared away by more than half.

The second-years, on the other hand, were left utterly dumbfounded. In their eyes, there should’ve been no need for even the Crown teams to intervene; any regular second-year team picked at random could've wiped out the entire freshman Crown team.

Even Twilight Ashfire had been toppled? And not just beaten—they had been smashed into the ground and flattened. What a disgrace. Whether Felicia’s strength was just overwhelming or there were other factors at play, from this point on, that guy Kettle might have to keep his head down.

Had they underestimated the strength of the freshman Crown team?

Still, this had to be a fluke. The gap between first and second years was a watershed—what kind of team could cross such a chasm? While the students on the field each pondered the situation, the third match began.

Compared to the first two, the nature of the third match was slightly different. Perhaps it was because Twilight Ashfire had only one Divine Child, whereas Radiant Sun and Moon had two—and one of them was essentially decorative, while the other was newly promoted and hadn’t achieved particularly outstanding enrollment scores. Because of this, the Academy proposed a match of Divine Child versus Divine Child, allowing Radiant Sun and Moon to dispatch both of theirs.

That meant the newly promoted Divine Child #3, Yimi, and the ornament Divine Child #4, Dylin.

“Match Three: The two Divine Children of Radiant Sun and Moon—Yimi and Dylin—versus Twilight Ashfire’s Divine Child, Erian.”

After the referee read out the match participants, the watching students all froze in disbelief.

Why were there two of them? Were these two conjoined twins or something, only able to function when they were together?

Some who knew the names grumbled—was this a husband-and-wife duo entering the field? Hopefully they wouldn’t “return home” hand-in-hand after both getting beaten.

The hat-wearing man from Twilight Ashfire adjusted his brim and made his way to the arena with a high and mighty stride.

While others thought it was a guaranteed win, his heart was actually pounding.

Before he had left, their team’s strongest Knight Divine Princess had comforted him, telling him not to carry too much psychological burden. Kettle had only lost because he let his guard down.

Let his guard down, my ass. He was steamrolled! Not even worth lying to himself about, okay??

Erian was exasperated. His teammates still hadn’t grasped the situation. They were convinced that Twilight Ashfire’s overall strength far surpassed Radiant Sun and Moon.

There was one thing he hadn’t even dared say to his teammates—that he couldn’t see through either of the Divine Children he was about to face.

“Twilight Ashfire’s Divine Child is in position. Divine Children of Radiant Sun and Moon, please take your positions quickly. The match is about to begin.” Seeing that Yimi and Erian were already in place and only one remained, the referee frowned and urged them on.

“No need for that.” Yimi cut in, succinct and direct. “I alone am enough.”

“You’re sure?” The referee was momentarily stunned. This was a special privilege granted by the Academy—and they were actually giving it up?

Did they seriously think a first-year could easily beat a second-year?

“No need.” Yimi shook her head. “It’s not just my decision—it’s the decision of the entire team.”

That one simple sentence made the entire Twilight Ashfire team feel provoked.

“...Understood. Then, Divine Child Dylin has voluntarily forfeited. The third match: Divine Child Yimi versus Divine Child Erian.”

“Begin!”

Erian drew the handle of his cane. This cane was actually a modified version of a sharp rapier, disguised for use as a walking stick in daily life but intended for sudden, surprise attacks in critical moments.

Duels between Divine Children were contests of intellect—information warfare. Both parties would use their Divine Appraisal to analyze each other’s data and predict upcoming tactics and actions.

It was a technical job. The Divine Child’s role in a team was just that: gather intel, formulate strategies, and relay information to teammates. They were the brain of the team.

And when brains fought each other, it obviously wasn’t like a Divine Princess duel—no punches, no kicks. As a result, these fights often looked boring to outsiders. All they could see was two Divine Children standing in place for a while, until one side declared victory. After all, Divine Children had no Domains.

Before the match started, Erian had already come up with over ten workable plans for victory—each of them flexible, allowing him to switch between them at will. He thought this already showed sufficient respect for his opponent, but reality quickly proved otherwise.

The moment he lifted his gaze and met Yimi’s eyes, Erian instantly felt as though thousands of silver needles stabbed into his brain. The searing pain scorched his nerves, and just as he was about to activate Divine Appraisal, the casting was interrupted.

It was as if those piercing needles had shot directly from Yimi’s eyes, flying into his pupils along the line of sight.

As the pain dulled slightly, Erian vaguely heard someone shouting his name.

“Erian, look out!”

It took him a full second to register that the warning was meant for him. When he looked up again, he found Yimi was now less than five meters away.

Goosebumps rose all over his body. That was when he remembered a term: [Voodoo].

Impossible, right? Divine Children usually didn’t unlock their main profession until at least second year. How had this golden-haired girl bypassed the level requirement and already evolved into a Voodoo-type?

In his panic, he made another mistake—he looked directly into Yimi’s eyes again.

The searing pain returned with a vengeance. He couldn’t even manage to open his eyelids anymore.

He thought, This is bad. He knew if he didn’t quickly get some distance from Yimi, he was going to get stabbed. But the pain had numbed his nerves so much he couldn’t even command his own body.

When he finally opened his eyes again, he realized he hadn’t been harmed—Yimi was nowhere to be seen.

Just as he was confused, a cold and slightly impatient voice urged him, “Surrender quickly, or I’ll make sure you lose everything.”

Huh??

Erian’s gaze slowly lowered—only to see the golden-haired loli standing right in front of him, holding a dagger.

But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was—the dagger was mere centimeters away from his precious little buddy!

Cold sweat poured down at once. Yimi’s annoyed expression made it look like she might just snap and do something terrible at any moment.

This was insane! He wasn’t a Divine Princess—he had no Domain for protection! This wasn’t a joke!

It wasn’t just Erian—plenty of the male spectators on the field felt a cold chill after witnessing this.

Erian no longer cared about anything else. He threw aside his cane and raised both hands.

“Match Three—victory goes to Yimi of Radiant Sun and Moon!” The referee had no choice but to declare the winner.

The speed at which the match ended surpassed not only his expectations—but the expectations of all watching.

With Erian’s defeat, the previously arrogant Twilight Ashfire team finally realized how serious the situation was.

Three matches down, only one win. Two remaining.

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